Giving Thanks With Avocado, Crab, and Pomegranate Salad

Have you ever played that game where you ask questions like, “If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?” It’s always interesting to hear the answers. One of my favorite questions is “If you could have dinner with anyone (dead or alive), who would it be and why?” I think you can learn a lot about a person by finding out who fascinates them, or who some of their heroes are. Last week I got to spend a day actually living my answer to a variation of one of those questions. If you could have Thanksgiving dinner with a group of food bloggers, who would they be and why?

Yep, I got to spend a day having an early Thanksgiving feast with some of the neatest people from the food blogging world. Patti Londre was the mastermind of the get together, assigning each guest a dish from the traditional Thanksgiving spread to bring to the table. The result was an afternoon of taste bud tantalizing food and incredible company. The idea was to help inspire each other in preparing for our own Thanksgiving feasts, while getting some new recipes to add to our repertoire in the process. In addition, it gave us the opportunity to spend some time giving thanks with our “food family.”

It really was a dream meal. Who wouldn’t want to have Denise Vivaldo styling their Thanksgiving table, and making sure that each dish was ready for its “beauty shot”? (Plus, Denise is incredibly entertaining because of her story telling abilities!)

But even more satisfying than the food that we enjoyed, was the company. Each of these individuals is inspiring and passionate about what they do. I love that I could spend an afternoon with such talent, yet never see a hint of ego. They understand that no matter what we know, or think we know, this world is so big and constantly changing, that there is always more to learn and see. Each of us is a unique individual. We each have our own story to tell and our own distinct outlook on life. When we can remember that, we’re able to enrich each others lives. Each of these individuals has touched my life during this past year, and I am so grateful to them for it!

Plus, it’s always nice to feel completely normal because you’re not the only one taking pictures of your food. In fact, at this type of gathering, it’s not rude to have your camera on the table—it’s expected!

I suggest checking out each of the creations from our meal, and adding at least one of them to your Thanksgiving meal this year—you won’t regret it!

1. Make the Pomegranate Sauce: Fill the bottom half of a double boiler with water, making certain the bottom of the top half does not touch the water. Bring the water to a simmer. Whisk together the pomegranate sauce ingredients in the top half of the double boiler and place over the simmering water. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens and becomes the consistency of thin mayonnaise. Force the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out any lumps and let it cool. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to use.

2. Assemble the Salad: Pick through the crab meat to remove any cartilage or shell that may remain. Combine the crab meat, avocado, and pomegranate arils in a bowl and mix gently. Wash and separate the endive leaves. Spoon a small amount of the salad into each endive leaf. Drizzle the pomegranate sauce over the salad, garnish with lemon zest, and serve.

And wow…what a nice event! I get together with local food bloggers too but in all truth, few are really into it more than the occasional post; I have yet to find the caliber of a group such as yours; people who love to prepare, style and EAT like many of us do.

This is a beautiful salad Rachael and such a fun post. How lovely for you to have such talented, sweet bloggers all in the same place at the same time. This salad is a winner and perfect for the season :)

I am a huge fan of Tori’s so when I saw her write up on this event I just had to stop by here and visit as well. The dinner looks superb and the company was incredible. Really enjoyed reading about this from all the people who attended. Have a great week.

Well that’s a dinner to be thankful for…what a spread! What a guest list!

I’m tasked with appetizers this year and want to create a light selection (no bread-y stuff) and I had thought about crabmeat in endive as one of the choices but I didn’t think about adding avocado and arils. It certainly makes it look more festive.

Rachael,
It was LOVELY to share an early Thanksgiving with you. I have so enjoyed getting to know you the past year, as our paths have crossed at various camps and events. Cheers to another great foodie year coming up!

I’m pretty sure I just died and went to heaven from seeing such a gorgeous turkey. My heavens! Now, can we just skip over the next week or so, so I can finally pig-out. I think we might have to add this salad to the meal; I’m not big on crab, but I have a strong feeling I’ll absolutely adore the crab in this!

Thanks so much for sharing this post, letting the rest of us have a glimpse into a great gathering and many delicious recipes. Of course, I love that you’ve included California endive in your holiday plans and hope it inspires others to do the same. Avocado and crab are hard to resist!

Great photos! I love crab when it is in season, and quite happy to eat both the white and the brown meat. Makes a mean bisque too! I teach Japanese cooking in London, UK plenty of tasty North Sea crab here.
Yuki